Public Information Meeting For Transmission Line

December 4, 2012

A public informational meeting on a high-voltage transmission line across the northern portion of Palo Alto County is planned for Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 9 a.m. in Emmetsburg. Officials of MidAmerican Energy will host the meeting at the Iowa Lakes Community College Auditorium in Emmetsburg, in accordance with the Iowa Code.

The proposed transmission line will have a capacity of 345 kilovolts and will run from west to east across Lost Island, Walnut, Vernon and Independence Townships. It will follow the path of a current 161 kilovolt transmission line that runs through the county as well as through O'Brien and Clay Counties, and Kossuth, Humboldt and Webster Counties before terminating in an existing MidAmerican Energy substation in Webster County.

The line is being designed use the existing 161 Kilovolt transmission line corridor as much as is practical by rebuilding the line into a double circuit transmission line on single-pole structures.

The new line will provide transmission capacity for renewable energy generation development and will also relieve congestion on existing transmission lines in the power transmission grid.

As the meeting is required under Iowa Utilities Board regulations, landowners and residents of property that will be in the path of the proposed line may file objections to the location and construction of the proposed line with the Iowa Utilities Board. Objections must be made in writing to the IUB prior to the public hearing date. Utilities Board personnel will be present at the informational meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 5, along with representatives of MidAmerican Energy.

Additional meetings on the project are also scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 4 at the Hartley Community Center in Hartley at 9 a.m. and at the Clay Regional Events Center in Spencer at 2 p.m.

Meetings are also set for 2 p.m. on Dec. 5 at the Algona Public Library, and on Dec. 6 at 9 a.m. at the Humboldt County Fairgrounds and at 2 p.m. at the Best Western Startlite Village Motel in Fort Dodge.